Method of installing a clip in a coil spring



1956 G. n. FENTON ET AL 2,764,809

METHOD OF INSTALLING A CLIP IN A COIL SPRING Original Filed Feb. 5, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 FlE i tL Fill-5-5- C v C) ia-3i! w w w w m w #5 7? 7! hwentmts:

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METHOD OF INSTALLING A CLIP IN A COILSPRING Original Filed Feb. 5, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 LBW 5% FIE-.13-

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1956 cs. D. FENTON ETAL 2,764,809

METHOD OF INSTALLING A CLIP IN A COIL SPRING Original Filed Feb. 5, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 lawentors: 6500 5 0 FENTO/Vdfld fM/L 5. 770EMfl/V,

United States Patent METHOD OF INSTALLING A CLIP IN A COIL SPRING George D. Fenton and Emil S. Tideman, Worcester, Mass.

Original application February 5, 1951, Serial No. 209,5195, now Patent No. 2,669,275, dated February 16, 1954. Divided and this application November 25, 1953, Serial No. 394,354

2 Claims. (Cl. 29--513) This invention relates to a method of installing flat wire clips in the end coils of closely wound coil springs such as the springs which are used in conjunction with overhead garage doors and is a division of our copending application, Serial No. 269,505, filed February 5, 1951, now Patent No. 2,669,275. In these springs it is necessary to install M-shaped clips between convolutions near the end of the spring such as the second and third con volutions. Prior to our invention this was done by forcing an opening in the coil with a hand tool and then twisting a clip into the opening to the proper depth. When the clip was properly positioned, it was necessary to hammer the end tabs of the clip shut. This method was slow and the labor cost was extremely high. There was also definite accident hazard in assembling the clip.

It is an object of our invention to provide an improved method of attaching M-shaped clips into the end coils of a coil spring.

This and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of our machine with parts cut away;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the machine of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the machine of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially through the center line of a spring located in position for a clip to be inserted therein;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line V--V of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the air cylinders and the air system therefor;

Figure 7 is a view showing the various cams for controlling the operation of the machine;

Figure 8 is a schematic wiring diagram; and

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a hook used in connection with our invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings the reference numeral 2 indicates a machine frame having a horizontal top 4. A spring trough or feed table 6 is supported above the top 4 by means of an adjustable bar 3 fastened to the rear end of the frame 2. If desired, an outboard support (not shown) may also be provided. Mounted on the table top 4 at one side of the spring trough 6 is a stationary vise jaw 12. Mounted on the table top 4 in alignment with the jaw 12, but on the opposite side of spring trough 6, are guides 14 which rea movable vise jaw 16. J aw 16 is attached to the piston rod of a piston 18 which is received in an air cylinder 20 having an air inlet 22 at its rear. end. A spring 24 is provided for retracting the jaw 16 when air pressure is removed from the piston. The inner ends of the jaws 12 and 16 are beveled downwardly and outwardly so as to better hold the coil spring S.

Air cylinders 26 and 28 are mounted on the table top 4 in substantial alignment with each other and in substantial parallelism with air cylinder 20. Cylinder 26 is provided with, air conduits 30 and 32 at its ends and air ice cylinder 28 is provided with conduits 34 and 36 at its ends. Mounted on piston rods 38 and 40 of the cylinders 26 and 28 are hammers 42 and 44 respectively. The inner faces of the hammers 42 and 44 are provided with horizontal grooves 46 and 43. j

A bracket 50 extends upwardly from the table top 4 and supports a vertical air cylinder 52, the axis of which is located between the hammers 42 and 44. Air conduits 54 and 56 are provided, one at each end of the air cylinder 52. A bearing 58 is mounted on the support 5t) and slidably receives an arbor 60 which is attached to the piston rod 62 of the piston of the air cylinder 52. The lower part of the arbor 60 is provided with a vertical groove 64 on its forward face. The rear face of the bottom part of the arbor 60 is cut away at 66.

Mounted on the machine frame 2 below table top 4 is an air cylinder 68 having air conduits 7t) and 72, one at each end. The air cylinder 68 is in substantial alignment with the air cylinder 52 except that it is slightly to the rear thereof. A piston 74 is slidably mounted in the air cylinder 68 and has connected thereto a member 76 which extends upwardly toward the table 4. Connected to the top of the member 76 by means of a hinge 73 is a tool carrying member 80. A spring 82 fastened to the face of the member 76 extends over the front of tool carrying member 80. A pair of spaced apart wedge shaped tools 84 extends upwardly from and is fastened to the member 80. A stop member 86 is fastened to and extends upwardly from the member St to a distance less than the height of the tools 84. A horizontal air cylinder $8 is mounted on the machine frame 2 above and to one side of the air cylinder 68. Air conduits 9t) and 92 are connected to the ends of the cylinder 88. Fastened to the piston of the air cylinder 88 is a stop member 9-4 which is horizontally slidable in a guide 96 from a position at one side of the member 76 to a position in the path of travel of the member 76. In this second position stop member 94 contacts a shoulder 98 on the member 76 to limit downward movement thereof.

A cam shaft 160 is mounted on the machine frame 2 in any desirable location preferably below the table top 4. The cam shaft 104 is rotated by the motor 162 through a gear reducer 104. A brake 106 is provided between the motor 102 and the gear reducer 104. The cam shaft 1% has nine cams A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I mounted thereon. A normally open push button starting switch 108 is provided on the front of the machine in a position easily accessible to the operator. A cam switch 110 is mounted adjacent cam A which is provided with three depressed positions in which the normally closed contacts of the switch are open. When the switches 1&8 and 11%) are in their normal position the motor 146 is started in operation by momentarily depressing the push button switch 108. When this occurs power from the lines L1 and L2 flows through the relay coil 112 thus energizing the coil and causing its contacts 1112GT and 112(12 to close. This causes current to flow through the motor 102 from the line L2 to the contacts 112(12 back to the line L1. When pressure is removed from the push button switch 168 the coil 112 remains energized since current flows from the line L2 to the cam switch 11%, contacts 1ll2Cl. and back to the line L1. Rotation of the motor 166 causes rotation of the shaft 1th} and this rotation will continue until cam A reaches a position in which a depressed portion of cam A causes the contacts of the switch 110 to open. As soon as this occurs the coil 112 becomes deenergized thus deenergizing the motor. However, the cam A continues to rotate a slight amount beyond the depressed portion of the cam before the cam shaft 1% is stopped by means of brake 106. Thus the contacts of switch Hi] again become closed.

Located adjacent the cams B, C, D, E, F, G, H and .i are three-way air valves 114, 116, 11$, 126i, 122, 124, 226 and 328, respectively. Air for operating the hydraulic motors is supplied through an air conduit 13% having a branch line leading to each of the valves 114 to 12%, inclusive. Valve 11-4 is connected to conduit 22, valve lie is connected to conduit valve H3 is connected to conduit 92, valve 129 is connected to conduit S-t, and valve 3.22 is connected to a conduit 132 which in turn is connected to the conduits 3t and 36. Valve 124 is connected to a conduit 134 which in turn is connected to the conduits 32, .34 and 56; valve 126 is connected to conduit 74 and valve 128 is connected to conduit 72. The third port of each of the valves 114 to 28 is open to the atmosphere and the valve will be in position to exhaust to the atmosphere when the connection to the air pressure line 139 is closed. The contours of the cams A to J, inclusive, are shown in Figure 7 in their positions at the start of operation of the machine. The operation of the valves 114 to 128 is the same in each instance and is best shown in Figure 7. Each of the valves has an outlet 136 to the supply line 130, an outlet 13% to the operating cylinder and an exhaust port 144i to the atmosphere. A bracket 142 is fastened to the valve body and pivotally supports a cam lever 14-4 having a cam follower 146 at its free end which bears against the respective cams. in the position shown in the drawing plunger 148 of the valve is depressed by lever 144 and there is how of air from the air supply to the operating cylinder. When the cam moves to a position in which the cam follower 146 contacts a depressed portion of the cam, the plunger 148 moves upwardly connecting the port 138 to exhaust port 14% and closing off port 136.

The operation of the device is as follows: With the cams in the position shown all of the pistons will be in their retracted position and the machine is ready for operation. The operator then feeds a spring S into the trough 6 with its front end positioned to the rear of the cylinder 68. The vertical position of the spring S may be varied by providing a removable plate 150 of the desired thickness beneath the spring. The push button switch 108 is momentarily depressed, thus causing rotation of the motor 102 which in turn causes rotation of all of the cams in the direction shown. Rotation of the motor continues until the cam A reaches the depressed portion A1 where opening of the switch 110 causes deenergization of the motor 106. However, the motor continues to turn until the cam follower rises out of the "depression A1. The brake 106 then stops all rotation In this position the stop 86 will be in line with the spring S. The spring S is then moved against the stop 86 which positions it for insertion of the clip M. The push button switch N8 is then depressed momentarily to energize the motor 192 causing rotation of the cams until the depressed portion A2 of cam A reaches its lowest point of travel. Rotation of the motor 102 then stops in the same manner as described above. In the meantime cam B has rotated so that cam follower 146 contacts point Bl, thus supply air through conduit 22 to cylinder 29 which causes the jaw 16 to move inwardly toward jaw 12 thus clamping the spring S in centered position. Cam C has also rotated to a position where cam follower 146 bears against point C1, this opening valve 116 to admit air to the rear of cylinder 88, thus moving stop 94 to its inner position. Shortly after valve 116 opens cam H reaches point H1 thus opening valve 126 to admit air to conduit 7% and cam I reaches point 12 closing valve 128, thus permitting exhaust of air through conduit 72. This pulls the tools 84 downwardly to the position shown in Figure 4, thus forming an opening between the second and third convolutions in the spring S as shown. It will be noted that shoulder 93 bears against stop 94 limiting the downward movement of the piston 74. The operator then pushes the clip M down through the opening in the convolutions and pulls it to the position shown in Figure 4. The operator holds the end of the clip C in the position shown in Figure 5 by means of a hook 152, the end of which is received in the groove 64. The operator then momentarily depresses the push button switch 1% which causes the motor 106 to rotate until point A3 reaches its lowest point of travel. The motor then stops rotating in the manner de scribed above. In this position the cam shaft 109 has returned to its original position. Various operations take place during this movement of the cam. First point D1 of cam D reaches its lowest position, causing valve 11% to open admitting air through conduit 92 to the front end of cylinder 33, thus retracting the stop 94. This permits piston 74 to complete its stroke to move tools 25 completely through the spring, thus permitting the convolutions to close on the clip M. Previous to this time the valve 116 had been opened to atmosphere. When point E1 of cam E reaches its lowest position valve 123 will open thus admitting air to conduit 54 and the upper end of cylinder 52. Point G1 of cam G also reaches its lowest position, thus opening valve 124 to atmosphere. This admittance of air to conduit 5 forces the arbor downwardly to the position shown in Figure 4, in which position the arbor acts as an anvil. Point F1 of cam F then reaches its lowest position, thus admitting air through valve 122 to conduits 3t and 36 causing the hammers 42 and 4 3 to move inwardly and bend the outer legs M1 and M2 against the inner legs of the clip M, thus fastening the clip securely to the spring S. Point E2 of cam E then reaches its lowest point, thus opening valve 129 at atmosphere and point G2 of cam G reaches its lowest point opening valve 124 to retract the anvil 60 and the hammers 42 and 44. Point P2 of carn F reaches its lowest point at the same time thus opening 'valve 122 to atmosphere and permitting this reverse movement of the hammers. Point B2 of cam B then reaches its lowest point, thus opening valve 114 to atmosphere permitting the spring 24 to open the vise to release the spring S. This completes the operation, the spring is removed and the machine is ready to receive another spring for insertion of a clip.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A method of installing an M-shaped clip on a coil spring comprising clamping the spring in a substantially horizontal position, inserting a wedge shaped tool between two adjacent coils of the spring to separate the said coils, inserting an M-shaped clip between said separated coils with the inner legs of the clip bearing against the inside of the spring and the outer legs on the outside of the spring, then removing the tool, inserting an arbor between the inner legs of the clip, and then hammering the outer legs of the clip against the inner legs to fasten the clip in place.

2. A method of installing an M-shaped clip on a coil spring according to claim 1 in which the clip is held in close engagement with the separated coil adjacent the end of the spring while the outer legs of the clip are being hammered against the inner legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,677,968 Hughes July 24, 1928 1,701,250 Young Feb. 5, 1929 2,078,828 Baer Apr. 27, 1937 2,086,992 Weber July 13, 1937 2,385,357 Haas Sept. 25, 1945 2,449,653 Isaac Sept. 21, 1948 2,669,275 Fenton at Feb. 16,1954 

